Painful Revenge
by SkyClimber
Summary: Omi was joyous as he ran up to his kneeling leader. "Get away from me, Omi," the wind Dragon muttered. The bald monk looked confusedly at his Brazilian friend's back. "...before I hurt you." /Post-third season; some RaiKim; rated for language&violence/
1. The Darkness to Your Light

**A/N: Hey y'all! ^^ This is my very first attempt at writing a _Xiaolin Showdown_ fic, since I just got into the show a couple of weeks ago. My favorite character is definitely Raimundo, but Jack Spicer comes in a veeeeeery close second, which is why this story has more to do with them than any other characters. It focuses more around Rai, but in later chapters, it deepens into what I have planned for Jack's part in this. ;) So I hope you enjoy! And I hope I get everything right! I've watched through the entire series on YouTube twice now, so I'm pretty sure I have my knowledge, but... I might make a mistake. I apologize ahead of time! XD**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Xiaolin Showdown _or any of its characters. If I did, there would already be a fourth season and Rai and Kimiko would have kissed by now. ;D_**

**P.S. - Also, just to let y'all know, this story is based one month after Raimundo was promoted to Shoku Warrior. This information is presented in the chapter itself, but it's pretty brief and I thought I'd just let y'all know ahead of time anyway. XD**

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><p><strong><span>1. The Darkness to Your Light<span>**

Raimundo was the first to notice Dojo hurrying towards them, even before the little serpent started calling their names.

"Shen Gong Wu alert," he stated calmly, lowering his left leg down from its 90-degree angle out to his side. The others heard him, noticed Dojo rushing towards them, and immediately ceased their training exercises.

"Hop on, kids," Dojo told them, growing to his full forty feet. "We have no time to lose with this one." As if to prove his point, the dragon kicked off into the air without warning and without letting the monks properly situate themselves on his back. All four of them held on for dear life as Dojo raced through the skies.

"Dojo, are you okay?" Kimiko asked over the wind rushing through all of their ears.

"I'll be fine once we get this Shen Gong Wu under lock and key," the dragon replied, flying straight through a flock of geese.

"Which Wu are we rustlin' up this time, Dojo?" Clay asked in his thick Texan accent. He wasn't fairing too well with Dojo's immense speed; he could only hold onto the serpent's back with one hand as his other stayed planted on top of his head, preventing his beloved cowboy hat from flying off.

"It's called the Yin-Yang Divider," Dojo began. "I didn't have time to grab the Sacred Scroll, but I didn't need to for this one."

"Great, another Shen Gong Wu having to do with the whole Yin-Yang thing," Raimundo complained. "What's it do?"

"It splits its victim in half, so to speak. What it really does is make a duplicate of its victim that is pure evil and nothing else, and the duplicate does whatever the person who used the Shen Gong Wu says."

"What if the victim is already on the side of evil?" Omi inquired.

"Doesn't matter," the dragon responded, dodging an airplane. "Even Chase Young or Hannibal Bean would have trouble fighting a duplicate created by this Shen Gong Wu."

"Alright, now I see why you're so unnerved by it," Raimundo said, tensing up a bit himself. "We can't let it fall into the hands of anyone on the Heylin side."

"I can't even imagine how bad it would be if Chase Young or Hannibal Bean had their own, pure evil duplicates of us…" Kimiko murmured.

"The world would be theirs," Omi concluded.

"Which is why it's not going to happen," Raimundo told them, turning around to face them all. Ever since he had been appointed Shoku Warrior, whenever they rode Dojo he was always in front of the others. He carefully held onto the dragon behind his back as he sat facing the others. "Is Jack still working with Chase?" he asked.

"I don't know if I'd say 'working with'," Kimiko answered. "Every now and then, they'll team up or something, but Chase hates Jack's company."

"You are very knowledgeable, Kimiko," Omi commented.

"I do my research," the Japanese girl responded, smiling.

"Well, with Wuya as his own personal tracking device, Chase no doubt knows which Shen Gong Wu has activated, and, judging from his past records, this may be one of the few he's actually interested in," Raimundo said. "We have no idea what happened to Hannibal Bean after that Cosmic Clash Showdown a month ago, so he's probably nothing to worry about, but keep your eyes peeled regardless." The three other monks nodded their heads. "Jack will no doubt be there, whether he's with Chase and Wuya or not, so Clay, I want you to take care of him. Omi, Kimiko, focus your efforts on the lizard and the witch, and I'll try my best to get to the Wu."

"What if they have already retrieved it?" Omi questioned.

"Then we all need to do our absolute best to not let them use it on us. I wish we had the Scroll so we could know how the thing works, but since we don't we'll just have to wait and see."

"Sorry," Dojo muttered from up ahead, starting into a dive towards some mountains.

"If Chase and them don't cooperate, we'll all just fight until one of us can reach the Wu. Oh… and watch out for the Jack-Bots that will most likely be there. I'll try to blow them all out of our way, but no one ever knows what Jack has up his sleeve."

"Um… pardon my interruption, but isn't his arm in his sleeve?" Omi asked. Clay smiled and chuckled, Kimiko rolled her eyes with a smirk, and Raimundo just gave Omi a grin.

"It's an expression, bro," he told him. Omi's mouth made the shape of an "O" and he cocked his large yellow head to the side.

Dojo swirled down to the ground and landed softly, turning his head back to watch the four monks slide off of his back. They were all still in their Xiaolin robes, as they hadn't had the time or warning to change into their usual street clothes they wore to retrieve Shen Gong Wu. Raimundo's only black attire stood out amongst the other three monks' red robes, but that was how it was supposed to be. The leader was supposed to be able to be spotted easily by his team.

"Over there!" Kimiko yelled, pointing at a tree as Dojo shrunk back down to his usual size and slid up to wrap around Clay's hat. The three boys followed Kimiko's finger to a tree a few yards away. A bright glint came from one of the higher branches, sparking their curiosity. They all ran over to the tree and Raimundo launched himself up to the branch with a gust of wind. He casually walked across the branch as if he did it every day and was surprised to see the glint coming from what looked to be a regular old black glove. He knelt down next to it to inspect it closer, and then picked it up slowly.

"How ya' doin', partner?" Clay called up to him.

"Is it the Yin-Yang Divider?" Kimiko asked.

"I… think so," Raimundo responded. On the side of the glove that was facing up on the branch, there was a Yin-Yang symbol, and when Raimundo tapped his finger against it, he discovered that it was hard and glossy. He figured that the symbol was what had been reflecting the rays from the overhead sun, since the rest of the glove was black leather.

The leader was about to slip the glove onto his hand when something hard hit him in his side, knocking him off balance. He did his best to keep his grip on the glove as he grunted from the impact and began to fall towards the base of the tree, but it slipped from his fingers as he fell. The branch hadn't been too high off the ground, and Raimundo didn't have enough time to stop his descent, so he landed on the hard ground with another painful grunt. The glove landed a few feet away from him. He could hear his teammate's footsteps running towards him as he looked back up at the branch he had just been on.

"Ha, ha, haha!" an ever familiar laugh echoed out of nowhere. Four pairs of eyes were up on the branch now as Kimiko kneeled down next to Raimundo. "Shroud of Shadows!" A portion of the air began to move, and then the familiar form of Jack Spicer was revealed. The sheet-like Shen Gong Wu was clenched tightly in his right hand and he glared down at the teenagers, a big smile on his face.

"Shoulda' guessed," Clay muttered. "I thought it smelled like cow pie around here."

"And I thought it smelled like a big ol' can of butt-whoop!" Jack replied with a sneer.

"Yeah, for you!" Kimiko yelled up at him. Jack shook his head as he lowered himself down to the ground with his heli-bot, making a "tsk, tsk, tsk" noise with his tongue.

"Oh Kimiko, when are you going to finally just admit that you're totally crazy for me?" he asked when he landed in front of the monks. Kimiko's face turned red, and then scrunched up in anger.

"Not even in your dreams, Spicer," she spat.

"Jack Spicer," Omi proclaimed, stepping forward, "prepare yourself for a most humiliating defeat!" Jack snorted.

"Yeah… right," he said. "Jack-Bots! Attack!" What looked to be about fifty of the familiar brown robots flew over the top of the tree and immediately descended down upon the four monks. Raimundo flipped himself back up onto his feet and raised his arms in a fighting position.

"Shoku Star, Wind!" the Brazilian yelled, throwing both of his hands out in front of himself, open palms facing the oncoming robot army. A large, strong wave of wind stormed towards the robots, and it blew them down just as a wave of water would. Some of the robots were broken because of the force and strength of the wind, but others made it out unscratched and continued charging towards the monks.

"Wudai Mars, Fire!" Kimiko screamed, jumping a few feet into the air and spinning in quick circles. She was soon just a rotating ball of fire hovering two feet off the ground. "Fire!" her voice came from within the blaze. At her second command, fire bursted from the bottom of the ball, launching it up into the air. It would hit one robot, then bounce into another, and then another, and another, and so on and so on.

"There's a game of Pin Ball for ya'," Raimundo chuckled, watching the rapid orange blur bounce from one robot to the next, blowing one up at a time. Then the leader turned towards his other male teammates. "Clay, Omi, go help her. I'll deal with Spicer."

With a nod of their heads, the cowboy and the cheese ball ran towards the army of robots. Omi purposefully moved in front of Clay while they were running, and then suddenly jumped, bending his legs up. Clay cupped his large hands together and caught Omi's feet in them, brought his bald partner down a little, and then swung his arms up, releasing the yellow monk's feet. Omi soared up through the air and exploded through a robot before landing on top of another one.

"Wudai Neptune, Water!" he cried, and he took a portion of a nearby pond and used it to short-circuit the robots one by one, hopping from one to another.

Clay skidded to a stop down below as a group of the robots flew down towards him, and he merely smirked. "Wudai Crater, Earth!" he shouted, and he lifted his leg. The Jack-Bots coming towards him seemed to know what he was doing, for they came to a sudden stop before him. Clay wasted no time in kicking his foot into the ground, and sharp spikes of earth erupted from the ground under each of the robots that had come after him, blowing them all to pieces upon contact.

Jack fell on his face yet again as Raimundo sent a current under the redhead's feet. Jack had almost gotten to the Wu earlier but Raimundo had blown it further away from him, and then proceeded to trip him. Spicer was persistent, however, and was soon back on his feet… but was again brought down to his stomach. Now Raimundo bent down and grasped the glove in his hand, holding it out in front of Jack's face to taunt him.

"Come on Jack, everyone knows you have to remember to tie your shoes," the tan teenager mocked, smirking. Jack narrowed his eyes and pushed himself back to his feet. Raimundo slid the glove onto his right hand and stuck his arm into the air. "Yin-Yang-"

Just then, a crow flew by his hand and ripped the glove off of it before turning and flying back into a different nearby tree's branches. Jack pointed and broke out into laughter as Raimundo lowered his arm and observed his hand, narrowing his eyes at Jack.

"You got jacked by a bird!" the pale 18-year-old laughed. Ignoring him, Raimundo looked over to the tree where the crow had disappeared into, and narrowed his eyes further. When a red light became visible from within the branches, the leader's eyes widened. He twirled around to see his teammates finishing off the last of the Jack-Bots, satisfied with themselves.

"Get down!" he screamed at them. They all turned towards him in confusion, but then dropped to their hands and knees as a red laser shot from the tree. Jack screamed in surprise, whipping out his Shen Gong Wu from where he had stored it wrapped around his belt.

"Shroud of Shadows!" he yelled, and then covered himself and disappeared. Raimundo ducked as another laser erupted from the tree, and when it was clear he ran over to where the other Dragons were knelt down together.

"We have to get out of here," he told them urgently, and Dojo peeked out from under Clay's large hat.

"What about the Wu?" the little dragon asked.

"Chase has it," Raimundo replied. "I knew I recognized that crow."

Before they could move or even notice it, another red laser shot out of the tree towards them. Omi was the first to notice it coming.

"Observe your fronts!" he shouted. But he was too late. The red laser beam made contact with the whole team of Xiaolin Dragons, causing all of them to yell in pain. The laser disappeared, but their bodies all remained with a bright red aura surrounding them, and they were on all fours with their eyes squeezed shut and their teeth ground together. The red aura began to separate from their bodies, taking with them a hazy grey glow from their victims' bodies, until there was another red-grey form next to each of the monks. As soon as the aura was no longer connected to their body, each monk gave out a sigh of relief and released their hold on the grass beneath their hands. Each opened their eyes, and each tried to see around the black dots dancing across their vision.

The four red auras all moved away from the monks, across the small clearing they were in, and one more aura slid out from under Clay's hat to join them. The monks pushed themselves to their feet once their heads stopped spinning and they all looked across the clearing. Even Dojo dared to poke his head out from under Clay's hat, though he was trembling like crazy.

The red auras had taken on the shapes of humans by now and were pushing themselves to their feet as well. The grey was now beginning to overtake the red, and soon each monk saw an exact replica of themselves standing across the clearing, though their skin and clothes and hair were all different shades of grey. The dominant feature of all of them were their pure red eyes – no glare from the sun, no pupil… just pure red. One by one, they slipped an evil smile onto their faces, and the duplicated Dojo grew to his full size behind them.

The monks stared in awed silence, every one of their mouths agape and their eyes wide. Dojo had retreated back to the shelter of Clay's hat. Everything was silent as the evil duplicates and the good originals stared at each other from different sides of the clearing.

Raimundo sighed, closing his eyes. "It's 'watch your backs', Omi," he said quietly.

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><p><strong>AN: Whoo, cliffie on the first chapter! XD**

**Alright, firstly I wanna say that I did get the idea for the evil duplicate's appearences from the _Teen Titans_ episodes 'The End: Part II' and 'The End: Part III'. I just thought they looked so cool, so I figured I'd use it too. XD;; _Disclaimer right here: I do not own _Teen Titans _or any of its characters... or character appearences..._**

**So anyway... I hope you liked it! It's an awful lot of fun to write these characters - especially Rai and Jack... XD;; Y'all know you love 'em! ;D Oh, also... you see that little blue button below this Author's Note? I promise you - no, no, I _swear_ to you that I will send you a virtual cookie if you click it and leave me a little review. :)**

**(( Claire ))**


	2. When Light Meets Dark

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! ^^ It makes me happy to see that people are enjoying my story so far! I'm having a lot of fun writing it, because the characters are just soooo much fun to write! I apologize for the wait - school has been killing me. XP But I hope y'all enjoy this next chapter! 8D**

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><p><strong><span>2. When Light Meets Dark<span>**

Silence enveloped the entire clearing as the two groups stared across at each other. A crow circled high above their heads, watching all of them stand absolutely still, as if they had been turned into stone statues.

"Do you think they have our powers?" Kimiko whispered, staring over at the wicked smirk on her duplicate's grey face.

"I reckon there's only one way ta find out," Clay responded. Raimundo looked over at the cowboy with a grin as Omi and Kimiko got into fighting stances. Clay followed suit by pulling out the length of rope he always carried with him, and Raimundo took a fighting stance as well. Dojo poked his head out from under Clay's hat, saw that the monks were preparing to fight, and then took one look over at his own duplicated self. He sighed, but didn't hesitate before slithering quickly out from under Clay's hat and growing to his full forty feet. With a roar that bounced off the surrounding mountains, the giant dragon sliced through the air, followed by the Xiaolin Warriors charging across the clearing. The duplicates all did the same, the same sinister smirks still on their faces.

"Let's show them what we're made of!" Raimundo screamed, and then sent a flying kick right into the chest of his own duplicate. Kimiko was shoved backwards by her duplicate but quickly recovered to shoot a blast of fire from her open palm. Clay lassoed his duplicate and threw him into the trunk of a tree while Omi kicked his duplicate right across the face. The two large dragons spiraled high into the sky and began a fire show, spewing flames left and right at each other while soaring every which way above the dueling monks and their duplicates.

Being so wrapped up in the battle at hand, the monks failed to notice the arrival of someone all too familiar. Chase Young emerged from the trees, an amused smirk on his face. The crow overhead dove down to perch on the man's shoulder as a beautiful woman stepped out of the trees. Wuya brushed a lock of her lush red hair out of her face as her red lips curled up into a smile of her own. Her wicked green eyes roved the clearing, enjoying the sounds of blasting fire and exploding rock.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but tell me again what the point of going to all of this trouble was again…?" the witch murmured, watching the duplicated Kimiko slam into the trunk of a nearby tree before quickly getting out of the way of the real Kimiko's foot.

"The evil duplicates will not disappear until the monks are able to defeat them," Chase told her wisely. "And even though defeating them is merely stripping them of consciousness, for the duplicates, defeating the monks is stripping them of _life_."

"But even _you're_ aware of the monk's abilities," Wuya reminded him. "And now they even have a leader to look to." The witch's eyes turned to where Raimundo was struggling with hands-on combat with his duplicate, and she sneered.

"I am very well aware of their abilities, which is why I am expecting them to win this fight. We did not come and use this Shen Gong Wu on them to destroy them." Chase turned slightly when a quiet thud was heard beside him.

"You could've been a bit more careful with that Shen Gong Wu," Jack told him as he revealed himself from under the Shroud of Shadows. "You almost hit me with the laser."

"If it hadn't have been for my crow, not even the monks would have been hit with the laser," Chase growled at the pale teenager. "I thought you said it'd be easy for you to get this Shen Gong Wu."

"He says that for every Shen Gong Wu," Wuya stated. Jack scowled at her.

"I wasn't expecting Raimundo to be such a challenge," the evil boy genius admitted. "I was actually expecting Omi to go after the Wu."

"He is the only Shoku Warrior, you klutz!" Wuya yelled at him. "Therefore he is the leader!"

"I do not fail to realize the threat posed by the Dragon of the Wind," Chase hissed, silencing both Jack and Wuya. "Especially since he is Shoku Warrior."

"Then let's take him out of the picture," Jack suggested darkly, glancing over at where Raimundo was dueling with his duplicate.

"Taking him out of the picture, as you say, would not be as easy as you may think it to be," Chase stated, his own dark, cat-like eyes resting on Raimundo as the monk blew his duplicate roughly onto the ground with a strong gust of wind.

"For us, it should be," Jack argued, scowling.

"_You_ have another task to complete," Chase snapped, shooting his cold glare in the redhead's direction. "The monks are now successfully distracted – if you wish to raid their vault, you will go do so now. And if it is decided that the Wind Dragon be removed from the equation, you will do nothing unless told. Is that understood, worm?"

Jack didn't look into Chase's eyes as the evil genius' scowl deepened. "Whatever," he muttered. He turned and disappeared into the trees as Chase returned his eyes to Raimundo.

"Wudai Crater, Earth!" Clay yelled, sending a ripple of quakes through the ground with just one kick. The earth ruptured and then began to crack, splitting into a chasm that was heading directly towards Clay's duplicate. But just as the advancing crack went in between his two feet, the duplicate smiled and slammed his open palm onto the shaking crack. He then bent his fingers inwards, as if he was trying to ball his fist, and the split earth was pulled back together all the way over to where Clay stood, dumbfounded. The duplicated cowboy laughed and charged, jumping over Clay's head to land behind him.

"Earth!" the duplicate yelled. His voice sounded just as Clay's did, with the thick Texan accent, but with some sort of metallic ring shadowing it. With just the one word cried from his mouth, the duplicate punched the ground right next to where Clay stood, and the monk's legs were immediately sunk into the ground up to his knees. The cowboy struggled to free himself from the earth, but he couldn't move his legs whatsoever.

"Hey now, that just ain't right," he complained as his duplicate jumped to stand in front of him, a sinister smirk still on his face.

"Judolette Flip, Fire!" The smirk promptly vanished from the duplicate Clay's face as he was suddenly blasted by an explosion of fire. Kimiko flipped by the real Clay, her own duplicate right on her tail.

"I got your back," Kimiko told Clay as she flipped past him. He tipped his hat at her as she kart wheeled away, and then proceeded to grab one of her duplicate's ankles and send her falling on her face. He laughed and placed his hands flat on the ground on his two sides.

"Earth!" he bellowed. He lifted his arms and then slammed his palms down onto the ground. He was launched out of the ground, freeing his legs, and when he landed on his feet again he kicked a boulder out of the earth and sent it flying towards where his duplicate was pushing himself to his feet.

Raimundo shot through the air after he blasted his duplicate into the trunk of a tree, and stopped next to Clay. The cowboy kicked another rock towards his duplicate before giving his attention to his leader.

"I saw you and Kim help each other out," Rai told him. "That's what we need to do. We need to switch on them – they'll never see it coming, and-"

"My duplicate wouldn't know your weaknesses like your duplicate does!" Clay finished for him, a smile coming to his face. Rai nodded, smiling as well. He then turned towards where Kimiko and Omi were fighting their duplicates off.

"Kimiko! Omi!" the Brazilian shouted. They both turned towards him, their duplicates down for the moment. Rai nudged Clay in the ribs, smirking, before yelling, "Switch!"

Clay turned and charged towards where Rai's duplicate stood while Rai headed towards Omi's. Kimiko and Omi were confused for only a mere second before they both smiled and charged off. Kimiko rushed towards Clay's duplicate and Omi went after Kimiko's. The duplicates were all caught off guard as the monks switched fighting partners so suddenly, but were so full of blind evil pride that they thought nothing of it.

Kimiko's duplicate rocketed a blast of flames from her palm, aiming straight at the oncoming Omi. The little yellow monk effortlessly washed a wave of water over the flames, flipping back to behind the duplicate's back. Before she could comprehend where the young monk was, Omi punched her roughly in the side of her head, rendering her unconscious and knocking her down to the ground. Clay's duplicate also fell unconscious after being shot straight through one tree trunk and into another behind it.

Raimundo stood, facing Omi's duplicate, and a smile came to the leader's face as his opponent summoned two strips of water to his grey hands. When the duplicate shot the rams of water, Raimundo caught the liquid in a strong spiraling gale of wind, circled it above his head, and then shot it back at the duplicate. His opponent's red eyes widened and he lifted his arms to take control over the water again, but was hit by the wind-water combination full force. Immediately afterward, Rai's duplicate was shot through the air and crashed right into Omi's, sending them both into unconsciousness.

The Dragons' eyebrows all rose in confusion when the unconscious bodies of their duplicates began to glow red. The monks stared on as the duplicates became nothing more than glowing rod blobs, and then a collective gasp was shared between the warriors when each red blob shot across the clearing and slammed into them individually. Each monk took on a faint red hue as their evil duplicate was returned to the original, and then a moment later the red glow disappeared and the clearing was quiet.

Overhead, however, Dojo still spun through the air with his own duplicate, both showering each other with flames. Kimiko ran forward with her eyes glued on the grey dragon streaking through the sky. She watched the duplicate's moves, got a taste of the pattern of his attacks, and then readied herself as he and Dojo began to race back towards the clearing.

"Wudai Mars, Fire!" the Japanese girl shouted. Her hands were encased by flames and a circle of fire surrounded her. She held up both of her arms, conjoining the two separate balls of fire in her hands, and shot them upwards into the sky. The circle of fire around her shot into the air as well, surrounding the other blast of fire, and made it look as if a giant eyeball of fire was shooting up into the sky. It began twirling in circles as it flew, and hit the duplicate dragon in perfect time. Dojo flipped around in the air and sped toward his dazed duplicate, and before the grey dragon could even see him coming, Dojo whacked him with his strong green tail. The evil dragon was sent rocketing towards the ground, and was already unconscious before making contact with the earth.

"Way to go, Dojo!" Clay cheered, pumping his fist into the air as the mystical dragon came back down to the ground, looking a little weary. Dojo shrunk back to his usual size as he accumulated the red glow like the monks had, and wrapped himself around Clay's hat when the glow disappeared. Kimiko walked back over to where the boys stood and Rai gave her a "way-to-go" grin and high-five.

"Very impressive performance, I must say," Chase Young announced, having moved across the clearing and now was only a few yards away from the monks. All four teenagers got into defensive positions, Raimundo automatically stationed in front of the others.

"Chase Young," the Shoku Warrior sneered. "What exactly is it that you want?"

A small smile came to Chase's face as Raimundo asked him this. "Such a predictable question," he mused, locking eyes with Raimundo. "Let's see now, if you can predict my answer...?"

Rai's emerald eyes narrowed as Omi answered, "You… will not tell us?"

"Very good, young monk," Chase replied, switching his gaze to Omi. "But there is no need to fret about it."

"If it has anything to do with you, there's reason to fret," Kimiko hissed, earning herself a cold glare from the shape shifter.

"I suppose you can look at it that way," Chase murmured, sliding his gaze straight back into Raimundo's eyes. "You will find out soon enough, Xiaolin Warriors. I can promise you that." For some reason, when Chase said this, Raimundo had the feeling that the Heylin sorcerer was speaking merely to him. The Dragon of the Wind scowled at the man in front of his team, and earned a smirk in return.

Without another word spoken from either side, Chase disappeared into thin air, leaving the monks with confused expressions on their faces. Raimundo stood up straight and stared at the spot that Chase had just been for a few seconds, before turning to his team.

"Let's get back and train," he told them. "There's nothing we can do to get that Wu now."

Dojo grew to his full size and took off into the air after the warriors had hopped up onto his back, and the last thing of the clearing that Raimundo saw was a very colorful bird disappear into the trees.

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><p><strong>AN: Whew! Writing out fight sequences like that is tough! I hope I did it justice, though, lol!**

**I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Lots and lots of action goin' on here, lol, which probably means that the next chapter will wind down a little bit. Or does it...? ;) Lol! Reviews are love, people! So please leave one!**

**(( Claire ))  
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	3. Mysterious 'J'eff

**A/N: Firstly, before anything else, I want to apologize greatly for the horrible delay in this update. I've been dealing with the last couple months of school and I've had TERRIBLE writer's block... XP I could just never sit down and write like I usually can. But school is now officially over, so I should have more time to write and hopefully I cleared out my writer's block a bit with this writing session I just finished up. So, again, terribly sorry for the long wait, but I hope it was worth it with this chapter! Oh, and my apologies for the corny chapter title. I couldn't think of anything better. XD  
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><p><strong><span>3. Mysterious 'J'eff<span>**

When the monks touched down at the temple after their encounter with their evil sides, they all failed to notice one certain redhead flying away towards the mountains. When he was just about to fly out of sight of the temple, Jack turned his head back around to peer down at the tiny monks and their dragon. A small smile came to his lips as he clutched the stolen Shen Gong Wu closer to his chest, and then he turned and continued through the sky.

"So what do we do?" Kimiko asked as she and her team entered the temple kitchen. "The Yin-Yang Divider is in the hands of Chase Young. I hope I'm not the only one who's worried about that."

"Don't worry, you're not," Raimundo replied, pulling out a seat at the table and plopping himself down in it. He bent forward and rested his forehead against the surface of the table, his eyes closed, while Kimiko and Omi also took a couple chairs at the table and Clay began preparing himself a sandwich.

"What are we to do?" Omi asked, raising his arms in a questioning shrug.

"Good question," Kimiko sighed, folding her arms on top of the table and resting her chin on top of them. "No doubt Chase won't let that Wu even be removed from his hand. It's way too powerful."

"Perhaps we should invade his living quarters and catch his guards while they are off," Omi suggested, his eyes sparkling as he imagined the plan taking action. Of course, he would be the one to retrieve the Shen Gong Wu, as the others would not be nearly as capable of such a task as he. He smiled to himself, placing his hands on his hips in pride.

"Catch him off guard," Rai muttered without lifting his head. Omi's eyebrows lifted in confusion.

"…that does not even make any sense," he commented as Clay set a large sandwich down on the table and pulled a chair out for himself.

"Neither did what you said, li'l buddy," the cowboy told him, picking up his sandwich and chomping off a huge bite.

"And anyway," Kimiko cut in, "since when is Chase Young ever off his guard? I'm pretty sure trying to sneak into his lair would be a lost cause, no matter how you look at it."

"Then let us find the cause," Omi said, standing up on his chair. "This Shen Gong Wu is very important to have at the Xiaolin temple!"

"It's not just the Shen Gong Wu that has me concerned," Rai piped up, slowly but finally lifting his head back up. All eyes were on him as his fellow monks waited for him to explain himself. "You guys heard him earlier. He's obviously planning something and it's obviously not anything good. Yes, I'm worried about the Wu being in his clutches, but what really gets at my nerves is all the possible things that he may be planning to do with it now." Everyone was silent as Rai's words sunk in, and Clay awkwardly swallowed the bite of sandwich he had in his mouth. "I know it's not potentially the _most_ dangerous Shen Gong Wu out there," Rai continued, "but it can, no doubt, do some potentially dangerous stuff. As can Chase Young's screwed up mind."

"So what d'ya reckon we do?" Clay asked, licking his fingers.

"Not entirely sure," Rai responded. "I think I'm gonna go meditate – I'm not really all that hungry. You guys help yourselves."

With that, the Shoku Warrior pushed himself away from the table and exited the kitchen, making his way towards the part of the temple where their individual cubicles were located. He pushed the curtain at the front of his cubicle to the side, and then pulled it closed again once he was inside. He started to sit down on his mat, but noticed a folded up piece of paper there. Kneeling down softly, Rai hesitantly poked the piece of paper. When nothing happened, the Brazilian shrugged and picked the paper up. He turned it over and over in his hands, looking for any sort of identification, but found nothing of the sort. After quickly looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was standing behind him, Raimundo quietly unfolded the piece of paper and read its contents. In a very messy scrawl, it read:

_Raimundo,  
>Chase Young has something horrible planned.<br>Well, I don't exactly know what it is yet,  
>since he doesn't know yet either, but trust me<br>when I say that it's not gonna be good.  
>Especially for you.<br>~ J_

Raimundo felt his eyebrow rise in confusion. _'J'_? Who the hell was that? And how had they gotten a note into Raimundo's cubicle? The Shoku Warrior had never liked dealing with puzzles – why couldn't the pieces just be numbered or something to make things easier for everyone? It couldn't be Spicer… why would he leave a warning message in the Xiaolin temple?

Rai crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it back behind the trunk at the head of his cubicle, disregarding it completely. Not like it contained any earth-shattering information anyway; he already knew that whatever Chase Young was planning wasn't going to be good. It never was. The only part of the message that had the monk slightly disturbed was the _'Especially for you'_ bit at the end. What exactly was that supposed to mean?

Shaking his head, Raimundo crossed his legs and closed his eyes, trying to become numb and succumb to his thoughts. Although he was a total action guy, he found meditating very relaxing and rewarding, and soon he found himself disconnected from the real world and immersed entirely in his mind.

* * *

><p>Chase Young was not happy. Granted, he hardly ever was, but Jack Spicer just had a special talent of being able to totally piss the shape shifting prince of darkness completely off.<p>

"Why, in the great name of all that is evil, did you only take the Third Arm Sash, Reversing Mirror, and Serpent's Tail?" Chase asked as Jack set the said Shen Gong Wu down in his designated corner of the lair. The redhead turned to face Chase, an innocent expression on his face.

"Cuz that's all I wanted," he answered easily.

"And why is that?" Chase inquired suspiciously.

"Um… just… because?" Jack found it rather annoying how Chase couldn't just take a simple answer and accept it as the truth. There always had to be something more to a person's motives in Chase Young's eyes. Nothing was ever simple.

"You are getting on my last nerve, Spicer," Chase warned the redhead, quickly coming face to face with him. Their noses were almost touching, they were so close. "I'd advise you not to make me any angrier than you have already. There's obviously some sort of motive behind why you only stole these three specific Shen Gong Wu from the Xiaolin temple, and, although I'm sure it is far beyond an idiotic one, I am ordering you to tell me what that motive is."

Jack grinned. "I seriously don't have any motive behind it," he answered truthfully. "I didn't have my bag with me so I just grabbed what I could and got out of there before the monks could catch me."

Chase growled, grabbing the collar of Jack's long, black trench coat and easily lifting him into the air. "I am not surprised by your failure, Spicer, but I expected something at least a little more impressive."

"Your expectations are much too high," Wuya commented in passing.

"I agree with her," Jack said. Chase growled again and was about to throw Jack across the room when an unfamiliar voice spoke up. All three heads turned towards where the voice had come from, and six eyebrows rose in confusion.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I'd like to have a word if I could," the lean boy requested. Short, spiky black hair sat atop his head, his bright blue eyes had dark shadows underneath them, his skin was on the tanner side but with a deeper yellowish hint to it, and he wore a dark red short-sleeved shirt with a darker wash of khaki shorts. He wore no shoes and didn't look to feel uncomfortable about it.

Chase tossed Jack carelessly to the floor, where he landed with a quiet _thud_. "And who exactly are you?" the shape shifter asked, taking a step towards the new arrival. The boy smirked.

"I might be willing to reveal my identity to you if you hear what I've come to say to you," he bartered darkly, raising an eyebrow almost in expectancy. Chase stood still for a moment, merely staring over at the strange young man, and Jack quietly pushed himself back to his feet. The redhead's eyes were also on the mysterious new arrival, and he was full of confusion. Who did this guy think he was, just barging into the prince of darkness' evil lair and expecting them all to give him their sudden attention?

"I will hear what you have to say," Chase finally stated after a moment of silence. "It had better be well worth my time, though."

Another smirk came to the boy's face. "Don't worry, I'm sure it will be," he responded. Chase's eye narrowed but he gestured towards a circular stone table with five stone chairs around it. Chase, Jack, Wuya, and the boy each took a chair, leaving one empty, and six eyes rested on the boy, waiting.

"Let's hear it then," Wuya said impatiently after another moment of silence. A small scowl slipped onto the boy's face, but he was quick to get rid of it.

"Chase Young, prince of darkness, I believe you go by, correct?" he started. Chase merely nodded once. "I understand that you've gotten yourself mixed into the lives of the four Chosen Ones at the Xiaolin temple. I will not reveal my sources but I know you've been having a bit of trouble with those Dragons recently."

"Not only 'recently'," Wuya growled. "The little pests have always been difficult little brats, right from the get-go."

"Yes, but I've also noticed that you've taken quite an interest in one of the monks in particular," the boy went on, causing Chase's eyebrows to rise slightly.

"You've now made me curious as to who or what your 'sources' are," the prince of darkness stated, locking eyes with the boy. "How exactly would you know something as confidential as who our sights are set on?"

"You're not exactly the only one with animals that will gather information for you," the boy answered easily, and at that moment a brightly colored parrot flew up to the table and perched lightly on the boy's shoulder. Chase, Wuya, and Jack all immediately jumped to their feet, their eyes all locked on the bird.

"Hannibal Bean!" Chase howled, his eyes furious. The boy sat still, however, completely unfazed by their sudden reaction.

"I'm not entirely sure who that is but this parrot does not belong to him," the boy spoke with assurance. "This little guy has been with me for as long as I can remember and has been helping me gather any useful information I may need."

The tense atmosphere in the room slowly began to dissipate as Jack and Wuya took their seats again. Chase, however, stayed on his feet, putting his hands on top of the table and leaning forward, staring intensely into the boy's eyes on the other side of the table.

"Tell us what exactly it is that you are here for," he demanded darkly.

"I'm here to offer my assistance," the boy merely stated. "I've had my eye on the Xiaolin monks for a little while now, but I've never actually made a move against them until now."

"And why do you wish to 'make a move against them', as you say?" Chase questioned, standing up straight and crossing his arms across his chest. The boy shrugged lightly.

"I know that evil has the power to conquer good, and so I'd really rather be on the team that has more potential of winning," he explained casually.

"More potential," the parrot on his shoulder squawked. Chase felt his lips twitch into a small smile.

"Good answer," he said approvingly. "But tell me why you think the Heylin side has more potential than the Xiaolin to win." The boy threw back his head and let out one loud laugh.

"Ha!" he exploded, the laugh echoing off the walls of Chase's lair. "Well, for one, evil isn't afraid to destroy things or break rules, since we have no rules to break. If you really think about it, it's a lot easier to be on the side of evil since you have no real morals to live by."

"So you wish to help us destroy the Chosen Ones because you believe it'd be easier to do so than to, say, join them?" Chase summed up in a guess, his smirk growing.

"And because it'd be nice to see the looks on their faces when evil actually does take over the world, proving to them that they aren't actually the best."

"Ah, you have issues with power," Chase chuckled.

"I just want to prove to people that I'm not worthless," the boy said angrily. "And I know that that will be easier to do on the side of evil."

Chase's lips were in a full smile now. "You are absolutely correct, my boy," he told him. After a short moment of silence, Chase took his seat again, crossing his right leg over his left, resting his elbows on top of them, and locking his fingers together. He looked the boy in the eyes across the table, his smile still present. "If you really desire to assist us, then it is accepted," he said. "I'm sure you'll be of better use to me than Spicer here." Jack threw a scowl in Chase's direction while the boy chuckled.

"I'm sure I will not disappoint," the boy said, smirking. "Or fail." Chase nodded.

"Failure is not an option," the shape shifter ordered. The boy nodded in full agreement. "Now then… since we have all of that out of the way… would you care to identify yourself to us?"

"Oh, yes," the boy replied, laughing lightly. "My name is Jeffrey, or Jeff."

"I hope the fact that you have a name beginning with the same letter doesn't mean you will be as pathetic as Spicer," Chase said, causing a smirk to come to Wuya's face and smoke to come from Jack's ears. Jeffrey chuckled lightly at Chase's comment.

"I will do my best not to be pathetic at all in your eyes," he said. Chase smiled again.

"Welcome to the Heylin side, then, Jeffrey," the prince of darkness announced, standing up again. Jeffrey smiled as well while standing up, the parrot still on his shoulder.

"Heylin, Heylin!" the parrot repeated. Chase motioned for Jeffrey to come follow him, and Jeff did so. Wuya got to her feet as well and started following the two men up a flight of stairs, leaving Jack alone at the table.

"Let's talk about this… specific monk you seem to think we have an interest in," Chase said to Jeffrey as they climbed the stairs. Another smirk came to the boy's face as Chase said this.

"Yes… let's," he agreed.

Jack watched the three of them reach the top of the stairs and then disappear beyond them. Something about that Jeffrey guy seemed fishy to the redhead, but at the same time, Jack seemed to think that Jeff was much better and easier to work with than Chase or Wuya. Maybe it was a good thing he had come to their doorstep, for multiple reasons.

The evil boy genius returned to his designated corner and sat down, cross-legged, taking his heli-bot off his back and placing it in his lap. He took his tools and began working on the mechanism, hoping to be able to take the slight delay out of the part that released the spinning blades. Out of nowhere, that annoying parrot landed right on top of the teenager's head. Jack released a high-pitched, girlish scream that reverberated throughout Chase's lair, throwing his hands up and swiping at the top of his head. The parrot hopped off his head and landed on the ground in front of him, looking up at his face. Jack groaned.

"What do you want?" he grumbled. The parrot cocked its head to the side.

"What do you want!" it shot right back. Jack rolled his eyes and slapped his hand to his forehead.

"Just… leave me alone."

"Leave me alone!"

"I'm not bugging you! You're bugging me!"

"You're bugging me!"

"No I'm not! Gah!"

"Gaaahhhhh!"

Jack promptly grabbed up his heli-bot and tools, swiveled his body to face the opposite way from the parrot, and then began working on the mechanism again.

"Stupid bird…" he muttered under his breath. Grinding his teeth, he continued his work, hoping that Chase didn't decide to come and give him some stupid errand to run or anything.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" the parrot chanted. Jack groaned again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alrighty, so not really an action-y chapter, but more of a plot-set-up chapter, lol. Think what you will about everything presented to you in this chapter ((the mysterious 'J', our new character Jeffrey, etc.)) but remember that all may not be as it seems. ;) I have got this whole thing so figured out, it makes me excited just talking about it!**

**But anyway! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Again, I apologize for the long wait, but now that school is out and I seem to have gotten rid of my horrid writer's block updates should be more frequent from here on out. :)**

**Please, please, please leave me a review! Whether it be short or long, I don't care! I just love feedback! So please leave me some!**

**(( Claire ))**

**P.S. ~ I put up a new poll on my profile page! I'd love it if you would go on over and put in a vote! I like to see what my fellow authors/readers are thinking about that specific topic! ;)  
><strong>


	4. Reunion

**A/N: HEY GUYS, GUESS WHAT! I'M NOT DEAD! , I am sooooooooooooooooo sorry for the looooooong-ass wait for this update! DDDDX I kind of found an interest in another TV show and so all my attention went to that and I lost my amazing obsession over Xiaolin Showdown... but recently, I got over that other TV show and re-watched a couple episodes of XS and got back into this story again! I never really had gotten over XS, cuz it's too awesome to EVER get over ((and Raimundo is seriously one of the hottest cartoon characters that has ever been created, like, ever)). SO YEAH. Here's the long overdue chapter four!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>4. Reunion<span>  
><strong>

Jeffrey walked towards the flight of stairs at the front of Chase's lair, a smug smile on his face. He had been right, of course, about the fact that Chase Young had recently taken an interest in the Dragon of the Wind – it was one of the very limited amount of things that the two of them shared, although the levels of interest between the two differed greatly.

As Jeff came to the top of the stairs, his parrot swooped down through the air, circled around his chest, and perched lightly on his left shoulder. Jeff paid it no mind, as his eyes were fixed on the grumbling redhead sitting in the corner, working on one of his many inventions. Jeffrey smiled to himself and whispered something in the parrot's ear before beginning to descend the staircase. The colorful bird took flight again and glided out the lair entrance as Jeff folded his hands behind his back and approached Jack quietly. The redheaded teenager was facing away from the newcomer, so when Jeff leaned down, put his lips to Jack's ear, and murmured, "Hello Jack", the self-proclaimed evil boy genius shrieked girlishly and threw his wrench into the air as he jumped to his feet.

"Don't… _do_ that!" Jack shouted at him when the pale boy had set eyes on Jeff. Jeff simply smiled at him in response, causing Jack to huff in anger and sit back down on the ground, his back to Jeff again. "My God," he muttered, reaching over to pick up his discarded wrench.

"My apologies," Jeff said quietly, moving around to Jack's front. The newcomer sat down cross-legged on the ground, opposite the pile of junk from Jack. The eighteen-year-old glanced up at Jeff through his eyelashes very briefly before returning his attention to what he was doing with his wrench. "Believe it or not, my intention wasn't to startle you. You do seem to be very easily scared, however."

"I am not!" Jack protested, throwing his head up and shooting a cold glare in Jeff's direction. "I'm as hard to scare as Chase Young himself!" Jeff laughed out loud.

"Chase Young is a fool because he claims to know no fear," the newcomer chuckled. "Someday, he'll experience fear… and someone other than himself will have the last laugh." Jack's eyebrows rose in confusion; Jeff seemed to notice the change of expression in Jack's face, for he was quick to change the subject. "What are you working on, boy?"

Jack hesitated slightly before answering warily, keeping his eyes on Jeff's face. "There's a small malfunction in my heli-bot that I'm trying to fix. Why do you care?"

"I never said I did," Jeff simply replied. Jack waited a few seconds for Jeff to continue, but when he never did the redhead went back to his work. Something was seriously strange about this Jeff guy, but Jack just couldn't seem to put his finger on what it was. Every few seconds or so, Jack would flick his eyes back over to where the newcomer sat quietly, his expression and position never changing. It was almost awkward; the two of them sat there in complete silence, save for Jack's work on his invention and the sounds of the waterfalls in the background. So, naturally, after about five minutes of this silence, Jack jumped again when Jeff suddenly spoke.

"Chase sent me to tell you to return to the temple and to steal some _useful_ Shen Gong Wu."

Jack disregarded the fact that Jeff had made him jump for a second time and rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever. Why don't you go do it? You're perfectly able."

"I'm… preoccupied."

Jack's eyebrows rose again as he looked up from his heli-bot to Jeff's perfect poker face. "You sure don't seem like it," the pale boy said, watching Jeff carefully, "just sitting here, watching me work on my heli-bot."

"Boy, I would advise you to not attempt to pry into my personal agendas," Jeff said, and Jack could easily sense the threat that shadowed those words.

"Yeah… right…" Jack began hesitantly, looking over at Jeff with a strange expression. "Well, uh, lucky for both of you that I just got my, er… my heli-bot working again."

A quiet, dark chuckle slipped past Jeff's lips. "Very _lucky_ indeed," he muttered, his sarcasm very apparent in his voice. Jack just rolled his eyes and turned away, slipping his heli-bot onto his back. He reached his right arm under his left to hit the small switch on the backpack, releasing the whirling blades.

"I'll get what I can get, but Chase had better not be expecting anything specific," Jack said, making his way towards the lair entrance. Jeff was already back on his feet, watching the redhead go with a small smile on his face.

"I'll be sure to let him know," he murmured under his breath. The newcomer kept his eyes on Jack until the tail of his black trench coat could no longer be seen, then he turned towards the staircase.

"Where is Spicer going?" Chase Young demanded from the top of the stairs, stopping Jeff before he could even take the first step. The lean boy looked up at where Chase stood, his arms held calmly behind his back as they commonly were, and then continued up the stairs.

"Not entirely sure," Jeff answered. "All he told me was that he was leaving. I think he mentioned something about Shen Gong Wu, though." Chase's eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of the mystical items. Jeff reached the top of the stairs and a smile found its way back onto his face as soon as he passed by Chase's side. Before going too far, though, he turned around again and faced Chase's back. "I hope it doesn't interfere with any plans of yours, but I was actually planning on stepping out for a while myself…"

"Just don't be gone long," Chase responded without turning around. "I'd like to begin planning our next move against the monks." Jeff's smile broadened. "And," Chase continued, "if you happen to see Spicer, tell him that I will be demanding a reason as to why he left when he returns."

"I'd be happy to oblige," Jeff said, nodding his head even though he knew that Chase couldn't see it. With another twist of his lips, Jeff added, "Though, I highly doubt I'll run into him…"

* * *

><p>Raimundo was surrounded by a gray fog, a slow, comfortable breeze sifting through his hair, across his skin, around his robes. His eyes were closed, his breathing steady, as he sat silently in the familiar lotus position. A large, dark shape loomed within the clouds, circling around the area in which Raimundo sat. It flew up and down in some sort of silent sky dance, in perfect rhythm with Raimundo's quiet breathing. Everything was peaceful and in perfect harmony…<p>

"Raimundo!"

Omi's voice rang out through the clouds, throwing the dark winged shape out of rhythm. The clouds became darker and Raimundo's breath hitched in his throat. The breeze picked up, whipping his hair and robes around him. A deep roar filled the air as the dark shape disappeared into the clouds.

"Raimundo!" Omi yelled out again. This time, Raimundo's eyes snapped open. The clouds were gone, the wind no longer existed, and Rai's green eyes opened to Omi's black ones.

"Ah! Omi! God!" Rai screamed, leaning back. "What-"

"Many apologies for interrupting your meditation, but there is trouble!" Omi exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air. Raimundo blew a strand of his messy brown hair out of his eye before pushing himself to his feet and dusting himself off.

"What kind of trouble?" he asked as calmly as he could.

"Kimiko discovered that three of our Shen Gong Wu are missing from the vault!" the little yellow monk reported, distress written all over his face.

Running a hand through his hair, Rai asked, "Which ones?"

"The Serpent's Tail, the Reversing Mirror, and the Third-Arm Sash."

Raimundo walked out of his cubicle and began the trek to the vault with Omi at his side. "Those are three completely random Wu," Raimundo spoke aloud as he walked, his arms crossed across his chest. "Wuya is already in her human form, so there's no real point of having both the Serpent's Tail and the Reversing Mirror… and the Third-Arm Sash is just, well, the Third-Arm Sash."

"I suspect that Jack Spicer is behind this," Omi said matter-of-factly. "He's never been known to think things through very well."

"And he sure does raid our vault often enough," Raimundo added, rolling his eyes. It got pretty annoying, the amount of times they had to deal with Spicer breaking into their vault in an attempt to steal their Shen Gong Wu. The poor guy just didn't know how to get things done properly, however, for the Xiaolin monks were always quick to whoop his butt and return the Shen Gong Wu to their rightful places.

Omi and Rai ran across the temple grounds until they reached the vault, where Kimiko and Clay were nowhere to be seen. Master Fung, with Dojo wrapped around his shoulders, stood on the edge of the staircase that led down into the vault, looking down into the darkness.

"Master Fung," Raimundo said, walking over to the elderly man. The old monk turned to face the Shoku Warrior as Omi ran down the stairs into the vault. "Spicer again, huh?"

"We believe so, yes," Master Fung replied, giving Rai a small nod.

"But it's such an odd combination of Wu to steal," Rai said, glancing down the staircase. "Even for Spicer, who never has a plan."

"It matters not whether there is a plan or not, but what does matter is that we are indeed missing three Shen Gong Wu," Master Fung said wisely.

"And that we need to get them back as fast as possible," Dojo added.

Jack flew nearer and nearer to the Xiaolin temple, scanning his eyes over the entire premise before crossing onto the territory and making his way towards the vault. Angrily mimicking Chase's voice beneath his breath, Jack landed on the roof of the vault and stopped his two whirling blades. He looked down into the vault via the circular window on the roof and saw Raimundo and Master Fung standing down below, and Kimiko, Clay, and Omi all exit the vault with nothing in their hands. Jack hurriedly scrambled away from the window so as not to be seen by the Xiaolin monks.

"Oh, crap!" he muttered as he crawled out of the monks' views. He let out a quiet breath before mumbling, "They would be in there right now." He poked his head back in front of the window and looked down at the monks, who were all discussing something with each other, and then flew from the vault roof over to the temple roof. He snuck quietly along the roof's tiles, knowing in his head which part of the temple he was going to. Not like he could get into the vault at the moment anyway…

Raimundo, Omi, Clay, and Kimiko all exited the vault with Master Fung behind them. Dojo was now wrapped around Clay's hat, and none of them noticed the figure crouched in the shadows nearby. They all walked back into the temple, leaving the vault wide open for Jeffrey to infiltrate. A smirk slipped onto his lips as he started to slowly make his way towards the door of the vault, but he stopped suddenly when he saw a figure making its way across the temple roof. In the dim light of dusk, Jeff could just make out a head of red hair.

"What in the hell is that idiot doing?" he asked through his teeth, and then began following Jack on the ground.

Jack moved across the roof very quietly and carefully, only sliding down and dropping to the ground when he knew that he had reached his destination. He quickly looked all around, making sure there were no monks around, before slipping into the temple through one of the many open doorways. He tip-toed down the hallways, staying pressed up against the wall as much as he could, and inched his way towards the area he knew the four Dragons' cubicles were located.

Just as he was about to turn into the room where the cubicles were, he heard footsteps enter the room from another doorway. An exhausted sigh broke free from weary lips, and Jack heard the familiar groan of Raimundo as the teenage boy made his way towards his own cubicle. Jack sighed to himself, his eyebrows knitting together as he muttered to himself, "Great."

"Well, well, well, fancy meetin' you here, eh, boy?"

Raimundo jumped to immediate attention, twirling around from his cubicle to face the open room with his arms up in a defense position. Jack had to slap a hand over his own mouth to keep himself from screaming in surprise, and nearly fell into the room and exposed himself to Raimundo.

"Show yourself," Raimundo ordered, although he already knew who had spoken to him just by the sound of his voice. The ever-so-familiar dark cackle of Hannibal Roy Bean echoed throughout the room as the tiny bean hopped out of the shadows. Raimundo's eyes immediately caught sight of him and he turned his body to face the creature.

Still chuckling, Hannibal raised his two roots together, each of which had a black sort of glove on it, and yelled, "Moby Morpher!" Instantly, he grew to his much larger size, becoming a much more potent threat. Rai didn't even flinch as the villain grew hundreds of times his normal size.

"Hannibal Roy Bean." Raimundo spat the name, hating having to roll those words off his tongue. "What are you doing here?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Hannibal shot back darkly, his fowl smirk never leaving his face.

"I'm not going to let you get any of our Wu," Rai told him, stepping further out into the room and away from his cubicle. Jack watched from around the corner of the doorway, being as careful as he could not to be seen by either of them, and suddenly wrenched his hand into the pocket of his trench coat.

"Yes, you seem to be guarding your Shen Gong Wu very well," Hannibal commented. "Considering a bumbling idiot such as Jack Spicer was able to slip past your defenses-"

"How did you know about that?" Raimundo cut him off. Jack looked up into the room again as the two enemies stared each other down, the smirk on Hannibal's face ever-so slighter. "Have you been _watching_ us or something?"

"My sources are my own," the bean merely said, standing up tall, making it clear that he wasn't going to say anything more on the matter. Raimundo clenched his teeth and thrust both of his arms out in front of himself, sending a strong gust of wind straight towards Hannibal. The attack was so sudden and out of nowhere that Hannibal had no time to dodge or to prepare for it, and so he was blown back into the wall behind him. Rai swung his hands in a circle above his head, readying another attack, but Hannibal was quick to get out of the way this time. And before Rai could even prepare another attack, Hannibal had whipped out one of his roots and smacked the Dragon across the room and into a different wall. The Brazilian boy hit the wall so hard that there were cracks left behind when he slid down to the floor, nearly unconscious. Hannibal used his roots to walk himself over to stand over Raimundo, who weakly lifted his head and looked up into the bean's red eyes. They merely stared into each other's eyes for one short, silent moment, before Hannibal's lips cracked into a smirk yet again.

"So we meet again, Raimundo," he said, almost in a whisper.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Regarding the first few paragraphs of the Raimundo part - I've always thought that when the Dragons meditate, they go into a completely different realm in their minds. And this realm is completely their own. When they're meditating, they're trying to achieve peace and to relieve themselves of stress, which is why I like to think that they go to these peaceful realms within their minds and become one with their element. As I described in this chapter, Raimundo was surrounded by grey clouds because his element is wind. The "dark shape", hopefully you understood was his elemental dragon, which I believe they also become one with when they reach total concentration. And as soon as Rai's concentration was broken by Omi, Raimundo and his dragon lost their sync, throwing everything within Raimundo's realm into chaos until he finally opened his eyes back in reality.**

**Obviously I put a LOT of thought into this, lol. I really like the things this show plants in a writer's mind, because there are just so many elements that can be touched upon in so many different ways... this is just my own personal way of seeing how the Chosen Ones meditate. :)**

**Anyway, I will try my darndest not to take such a freaking long time with the next update. I know that everything seems confusing and it might seem like I'm just throwing everything together last minute, but I promise you that I'm not. Every little thing, and I do mean EVERY _little_ thing, plays a part into the plot of this story, and as we continue you may find yourself reflecting back upon these past moments and going, "Ooooohhhhh!" ;)**

**Please review! It really means a lot! Thanks guys!  
><strong>

**(( Claire ))  
><strong>


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